Kneel before Zod

It's easy to look back at the era of McCarthyism with disdain and wonder how one man's crusade could have to thoroughly and entirely have taken over our nation, and - more relevantly - to believe that such a paranoia could never take hold again.

The Girl is moving jobs and will find herself in a new school system this when August rolls around. In the process of filling out her various papers regarding health insurance, employement history, and - I was pretty surprised to find - her loyalty oath.

Ok, it's not quite a loyalty oath in perfect definition as she wasn't pleding loyalty and fealty to the US or Ohio or even to her new school system, but it certainly was a sizable document - technically called a Declaration Regarding Material Assistance/Nonassistance to a Terrorist Organization. It asks her to answer these simple yes-or-no questions:

1. Are you a member of an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?
2. Have you used any position of prominence you have with any country to persuade others to support an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?
3. Have you knowingly solicited funds or other things of value for an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?
4. Have you solicited any individual for membership in an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?
5. Have you committed an act that you know, or reasonably should have known, affords "material support or resources" to an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?
6. Have you hired or compensated a person you knew to be a member of an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List or a person you knew to be engaged in planning, assisting, or carrying out an act of terrorism?

Oh, if you were curious about the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List, you can get the entire list as a pdf here, or you can skim the list here:

U.S. Department of State List of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations...

1. Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)
2. Abu Sayyaf Group
3. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
4. Ansar al-Islam
5. Armed Islamic Group (GIA)
6. Asbat al-Ansar
7. Aum Shinrikyo
8. Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)
9. Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA)
10. Continuity Irish Republican Army
11. Gama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group)
12. HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement)
13. Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM)
14. Hizballah (Party of God)
15. Islamic Jihad Group
16. Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
17. Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) (Army of Mohammed)
18. Jemaah Islamiya organization (JI)
19. al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad)
20. Kahane Chai (Kach)
21. Kongra-Gel (KGK, formerly Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, KADEK)
22. Lashkar-e Tayyiba (LT) (Army of the Righteous)
    
23. Lashkar i Jhangvi
24. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
25. Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)
26. Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM)
27. Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)
28. National Liberation Army (ELN)
29. Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)
30. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
31. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLF)
32. PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC)
33. al-Qa’ida
34. Real IRA
35. Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
36. Revolutionary Nuclei (formerly ELA)
37. Revolutionary Organization 17 November
38. Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C)
39. Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)
40. Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL)
41. Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR) (al-Qaida in Iraq) (formerly Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'al-Jihad, JTJ, al-Zarqawi Network)
42. United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)

U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List

1. 1. Afghan Support Committee (a.k.a. Ahya ul Turas; a.k.a. Jamiat Ayat-ur-Rhas al Islamia; a.k.a. Jamiat Ihya ul Turath al Islamia; a.k.a. Lajnat el Masa Eidatul Afghania)
2. Al Taqwa Trade, Property and Industry Company Ltd. (f.k.a. Al Taqwa Trade, Property and Industry; f.k.a. Al Taqwa Trade, Property and Industry Establishment; f.k.a. Himmat Establishment; a.k.a. Waldenberg, AG)
3. Al-Hamati Sweets Bakeries
4. Al-Ittihad al-Islami (AIAI)
5. Al-Manar
6. Al-Ma’unah
7. Al-Nur Honey Center
8. Al-Rashid Trust
9. Al-Shifa Honey Press for Industry and Commerce
10. Al-Wafa al-Igatha al-Islamia (a.k.a. Wafa Humanitarian Organization; a.k.a. Al Wafa; a.k.a. Al Wafa Organization)
11. Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB)
12. Anarchist Faction for Overthrow
13. Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR) (a.k.a. Interahamwe, Former Armed Forces (EX-FAR))
14. Asbat al-Ansar
15. Babbar Khalsa International
16. Bank Al Taqwa Ltd. (a.k.a. Al Taqwa Bank; a.k.a. Bank Al Taqwa)
17. Black Star
18. Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (a.k.a. CPN(M); a.k.a. the United Revolutionary People’s Council, a.k.a. the People’s Liberation Army of Nepal)
19. Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) (a.k.a. Continuity Army Council)
20. Darkazanli Company
21. Dhamat Houmet Daawa Salafia (a.k.a. Group Protectors of Salafist Preaching; a.k.a. Houmat Ed Daawa Es Salifiya; a.k.a. Katibat El Ahoual; a.k.a. Protectors of the Salafist Predication; a.k.a. El-Ahoual Battalion; a.k.a. Katibat El Ahouel; a.k.a. Houmate Ed-Daawa Es-Salafia; a.k.a. the Horror Squadron; a.k.a. Djamaat Houmat Eddawa Essalafia; a.k.a. Djamaatt Houmat Ed Daawa Es Salafiya; a.k.a. Salafist Call Protectors; a.k.a. Djamaat Houmat Ed Daawa Es Salafiya; a.k.a. Houmate el Da’awaa es-Salafiyya; a.k.a. Protectors of the Salafist Call; a.k.a. Houmat ed-Daaoua es-Salafia; a.k.a. Group of Supporters of the Salafiste Trend; a.k.a. Group of Supporters of the Salafist Trend)
22. Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (a.k.a. Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party; a.k.a. ETIM; a.k.a. ETIP)
23. First of October Antifascist Resistance Group (GRAPO) (a.k.a. Grupo de Resistencia Anti-Fascista Premero De Octubre)
24. Harakat ul Jihad i Islami (HUJI)
25. International Sikh Youth Federation
26. Islamic Army of Aden
27. Islamic Renewal and Reform Organization
28. Jamiat al-Ta’awun al-Islamiyya
29. Jamiat ul-Mujahideen (JUM)
30. Japanese Red Army (JRA)
31. Jaysh-e-Mohammed
32. Jayshullah
33. Jerusalem Warriors
34. Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LET) (a.k.a. Army of the Righteous)
35. Libyan Islamic Fighting Group
36. Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF)
37. Makhtab al-Khidmat
38. Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (a.k.a. GICM; a.k.a. Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain)
39. Nada Management Organization (f.k.a. Al Taqwa Management Organization SA)
40. New People’s Army (NPA)
41. Orange Volunteers (OV)
42. People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD)
43. Red Brigades-Combatant Communist Party (BR-PCC)
44. Red Hand Defenders (RHD)
45. Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (Pakistan and Afghanistan offices -- Kuwait office not designated) (a.k.a. Jamia Ihya ul Turath; a.k.a. Jamiat Ihia Al- Turath Al-Islamiya; a.k.a. Revival of Islamic Society Heritage on the African Continent)
46. Revolutionary Proletarian Nucleus
47. Revolutionary United Front (RUF)
48. Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)
49. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)
50. The Islamic International Brigade (a.k.a. International Battalion, a.k.a. Islamic Peacekeeping International Brigade, a.k.a. Peacekeeping Battalion, a.k.a. The International Brigade, a.k.a. The Islamic Peacekeeping Army, a.k.a. The Islamic Peacekeeping Brigade)
51. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)
52. The Pentagon Gang
53. The Riyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (a.k.a. Riyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion, a.k.a. Riyadh-as-Saliheen, a.k.a. the Sabotage and Military Surveillance Group of the Riyadh al-Salihin Martyrs, a.k.a. Riyadus Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Shahids (Martyrs))
54. The Special Purpose Islamic Regiment (a.k.a. the Islamic Special Purpose Regiment, a.k.a. the al-Jihad-Fisi-Sabililah Special Islamic Regiment, a.k.a. Islamic Regiment of Special Meaning)
55. Tunisian Combat Group (a.k.a. GCT, a.k.a. Groupe Combattant Tunisien, a.k.a. Jama’a Combattante Tunisien, a.k.a. JCT; a.k.a. Tunisian Combatant Group)
56. Turkish Hizballah
57. Ulster Defense Association (a.k.a. Ulster Freedom Fighters)
58. Ummah Tameer E-Nau (UTN) (a.k.a. Foundation for Construction; a.k.a. Nation Building; a.k.a. Reconstruction Foundation; a.k.a. Reconstruction of the Islamic Community; a.k.a. Reconstruction of the Muslim Ummah; a.k.a. Ummah Tameer I-Nau; a.k.a. Ummah Tameer E-Nau; a.k.a. Ummah Tameer-I-Pau)
59. Youssef M. Nada & Co. Gesellschaft M.B.H.

U.S. Treasury Department’s Designated Charities and Potential Fundraising Front Organizations for FTOs

1. Makhtab al-Khidamat / Al Kifah (formerly U.S.-based, Pakistan)
2. Al Rashid Trust (Pakistan)
3. WAFA Humanitarian Organization (Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates)
4. Rabita Trust (Pakistan)
5. Ummah Tameer E-Nau (Pakistan)
6. Revival of Islamic Heritage Society - Pakistan and Afghanistan Branches (Kuwait, Afghanistan, Pakistan)
7. Afghan Support Committee (Afghanistan, Pakistan)
8. Al Haramain Foundation (Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, Tanzania, Bosnia, Somalia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Albania, Ethiopia, Netherlands, Comoros Islands, and United States branches)
9. Aid Organization of the Ulema (Pakistan)
10. Global Relief Foundation (United States)
11. Benevolence International Foundation (United States):
12. Benevolence International Fund (Canada)
13. Bosanska Idealna Futura (Bosnia)
14. Stichting Benevolence International Nederland (Netherlands)
15. Lajnat al Daawa al Islamiyya (Kuwait, Pakistan, Afghanistan)
16. Al Akhtar Trust (Pakistan)
17. Taibah International (Bosnia)
18. Al Haramain & Al Masjed Al Aqsa Charity Foundation (Bosnia)
19. Al Furqan (Bosnia)
20. Islamic African Relief Agency (IARA) / Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA) (Sudan, United States and 40 other branches throughout the world)
21. The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (United States)
22. Al Aqsa Foundation (United States, Europe, Pakistan, Yemen, South Africa)
23. Commité de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens (France)
24. Association de Secours Palestinien (Switzerland)
25. Interpal (Palestinian Relief & Development Fund) (United Kingdom)
26. Palestinian Association in Austria (Austria)
27. Sanibil Association for Relief and Development (Lebanon)
28. Elehssan Society (Palestinian territories)
29. Aleph (Aum Shinrikyo/Aum Supreme Truth)
30. Rabbi Meir David Kahane Memorial Fund (Kahane Chai and Kach) American Friends of the United Yeshiva (Kahane Chai and Kach) American Friends of Yeshivat Rav Meir (Kahane Chai and Kach) Friends of the Jewish Idea Yeshiva (Kahane Chai and Kach)
31. Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association (Real IRA)
32. Socorro Popular Del Peru/People’s Aid of Peru (Sendero Luminoso/Shining Path)

That's a huge list; we clearly are making a number of enemies around the world.

But what the hell do those six questions - or those three long lists - have to do with The Girl's ability to recommend a good piece of fiction to a fifth grader? To help a third grader use Google to look something up? To put together a lesson on how to use a table of contents? Or even to put together a PowerPoint on the rules of the library?

Does the State of Ohio think that she's going to pull the little children aside and say "now, biographies are shelved just after the 900's, Allah is the greatest, glory be to Allah, praise be to Allah, there is no god but Allah, kill the infidel"...or "well, if you liked that, you might try to Captain Underpants series, and remember that the English should be killed if they won't leave Northern Ireland"?

No, there is absolutely no way that any of those questions have any bearing upon her job performance, and there is no reason that they should be asked of new hires for every licensed job in Ohio; every person seeking "employment with the State, any instrumentality of the State, or any political subdivision of the State"; or anyone "entering into any contract to conduct business or provide funding [to] the state, any instrumentality of the state and any political subdivision of the state". (check the reference here).

None whatsoever.

And merely asking them undermines our freedoms - the freedom of speech, the freedom of organization, the freedom of free association.

Inch by inch, nibble by nibble, these are being slowly taken away from us in the name of protection, under the guise of keeping us safe from the destructive hordes that would otherwise threaten our way of life, have their bearded ways with every mother and daughter in the country, and even spit out our apple pie.

Even if you think that such questions are innocuous, because they're not asking for loyalty to the state, take a look at the oath that every California state employee - including professors at state universities - is required to pledge:

I, ____________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.

The oath also carries legal weight - check the California constitution for reference. They even have laws about signing and not believing the oath - check here.

People have even been fired because they added in the word nonviolent before the phrase about "defend[ing] the Contitution of the United States...against all enemies, foreign and domestic" - source here.

We are living in a time when many of our leaders - President, legislators, governors, and local leaders - are choosing to favor safety over freedom. I will, however, always choose freedom over safety, and I agree with Benjamin Franklin to the Pennsylvania Assembly:

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

And I think I bought a raffle ticket from #30 on that last list a while back. I'm thinking perhaps I should be more careful in the future, but he said I could win a trip to Las Vegas. Who knew?